[Chapter 46. Into the Darkness]
Searanox pushed himself up from the cold stone, the metallic plates of his new coat scraping softly against the rough surface. He walked over to Iris, reaching into his storage ring with a thought. A few bottles of amber liquid materialized in his hands, their glass cool to the touch. Next came several wrapped items. The crinkling of paper barely audible in the night air, followed by two cans of food that clinked together softly.
"That should be enough for the time you will spend in there. I don't have a bag or anything, so you have to figure it out yourself." His voice was flat, but he met her silver eyes directly. A flicker of something unreadable passing between them.
Iris took the offered items with a small nod, her fingers brushing against his briefly as she gathered the supplies. Her silver eyes met his without flinching, a silent understanding passing between them. "Understood. I will be efficient." Her voice was steady, betraying none of the trepidation that the others so openly displayed.
Searanox gave a curt nod in return, his gaze already shifting back to the other three women who stood frozen by the entrance. Their eyes wide with a mixture of fear and disbelief. The clearing was silent for a moment, the only sound the faint hum of the portal and the rustle of leaves in the wind that seemed to whisper warnings of dangers to come.
Three travel drones appeared at his side with a flash of blue light, their mechanical bodies humming softly as they stabilized in the air. As he walked over to one, the platform rising slightly to meet his weight. "You four, get on them. We are leaving." He got on one himself and without waiting for any of them, lifted off. The drone accelerating with a sudden jolt that made him grip the edge.
He did not look back as the drone rose, the clearing shrinking below him as he soared into the night sky. The women stumbled onto the remaining two drones, their movements clumsy and uncertain. Their faces pale in the moonlight as they clutched at each other for stability. Iris stood for a moment longer, her gaze fixed on the entrance of the Burrowing Depths. The swirling portal reflecting in her silver eyes, with all of them gone. Iris stood alone in the clearing, the few items he had left behind held in her arms.
The other two travel drones closed the distance within minutes, their blue lights cutting through the darkness as they followed his lead north-westward. Their passage marked only by the occasional rustle of treetops below. After what felt like an eternity of silent flight through the cold night air. The Webbed Tunnels dungeon portal came into view—a swirling vortex of blue light between a fallen oak and a jagged boulder that jutted from the earth like a broken tooth.
Its surface shifted between pale blue and deep purple, the colors bleeding into one another like a fresh wound that refused to close. The edges rippling with an almost hypnotic rhythm. Without warning the drones beneath them dissolved into blue sparks, the energy crackling softly before fading into nothingness. Leaving the women suddenly standing on uneven ground.
Sarah, Vanessa and Lana stumbled but caught themselves. Their hands flying out to steady their balance against the unexpected loss of support, their fingers scraping against the rough bark of the fallen oak nearby. Carmen wasn't so fortunate; she landed hard on her rear. A soft cry escaping her lips as she hit the dirt, the impact sending a small puff of dry earth into the air around her.
Searanox didn't turn to help her up, his posture remaining rigid and unmoved by the sound of her distress. His eyes remained fixed on the portal. His expression unchanged as he stepped through the shimmering energy, the cool wash of the transition barely registering on his face as he disappeared from sight. The others hesitated for a moment. Their eyes wide with a mixture of fear and uncertainty, before following. Their movements stiff with trepidation as the portal swallowed them one by one.
The Webbed Tunnels lived up to their name in every horrifying detail. The air was immediately thick, heavy with the stench of damp stone and something acrid like venom that left a bitter taste at the back of his throat. Iridescent sticky webbing covered nearly every surface, clinging to his clothes and hair with a sickening soft pull that seemed to actively resist his movements. The threads glistening faintly in the dim light. The only light came from patches of faintly glowing moss, that made the narrow corridor feel like it was closing in. The walls seeming to pulse with an unnatural rhythm that set his teeth on edge.
It was just as he remembered it—dark and crawling with unseen threats. Then they entered one after another—a sharp gasp from Lana. A stifled curse from Vanessa that echoed strangely in the confined space. He didn't need to look back to know they were panicking, their ragged breathing and the sound of shuffling feet telling him everything he needed to know about their state of mind.
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"Stay put." Searanox's voice was a flat command, cutting through their mounting fear with an edge as sharp as broken glass. "Don't move. Don't touch anything." He could hear the immediate compliance in the sudden stillness behind him, though the tremor in their breathing betrayed the terror that still gripped them.
He heard a sharp intake of breath from one of them. Followed by the wet tearing sound of a hand pulling away from the webs, the threads stretching like elastic before snapping back into place with a soft almost inaudible thrum. Another stifled a sob. The sound quickly muffled as its owner tried to maintain some semblance of composure. They were trying to be brave, but the sheer alien nature of the place was breaking them down, piece by piece.
"Who's there?" Vanessa's voice trembled despite her attempt to sound authoritative, the words catching slightly in her throat as she spoke.
"Where are we?" Lana's was a shaky whisper, full of fear that seemed to vibrate through the very air around them.
"I can't see anything." Sarah whimpered, her usual bravado completely stripped away. Leaving only raw vulnerability in its place.
"What do you mean you can't see? It's barely darker than outside…" As he said that, he turned around. The metallic plates of his coat shifting softly with the movement, his eyes adjusting instantly to the dim light as he scanned their faces.
The only one who remained silent was Carmen. He could hear her slow steady breathing, a small anchor of composure in the sea of panic that threatened to drown them all. Her silence more telling than any words could have been.
Searanox summoned a recon drone, its soft blue light cutting through the suffocating darkness like a blade. The sudden illumination made the women flinch back, their hands flying up to shield their eyes. The drone's glow revealed their pale terrified faces, highlighting the streaks of tears glistening on Lana's cheeks. The defiant stubborn clench of Vanessa's jaw, that did little to hide the fear swimming in her eyes. Sarah and Carmen stood frozen, their bodies rigid as statues, breaths held captive in their lungs.
"You four stay right here." Searanox's voice was low but carried an undeniable weight in the enclosed space, the words bouncing off the web-covered walls. "I don't need extra targets in the chaos." His eyes swept over them one by one, a gaze that was both clinical and menacing. "When you get your notifications, you walk out. The portal is just a few meters behind you, around the corner." He gestured down the sticky tunnel with his chin, a sharp dismissive movement that sent a shiver down Lana's spine.
"Just follow the drone for now. It will guide you to the entrance."
He turned toward them, as he pulled items from his storage ring with a thought. A thick wool blanket materialized first, its fibers looking surprisingly soft in the drone's blue light. It was followed by several wrapped food items and three bottles of water that clinked together softly. He handed them out without ceremony, his fingers brushing against trembling hands as he did so. The brief contact sending a jolt of fear through each of them.
"You should be safe here, but just to be sure…"
His hand moved to his belt, his fingers closing around the hilt of a dagger. He pulled it free, the blade catching the drone's light as he held it out to them. The steel gleamed. The women stared at the weapon, then back at him. Their expressions a mixture of confusion and dawning horror at the implication of his words.
"If something crawls back in here, stab it… not that there will be anything left to be crawling back." His face was swallowed by the darkness of the tunnel, but Lana could have sworn she saw a grin that spoke of a slaughter to come, a flash of white teeth in the gloom that was more terrifying than any monster they might encounter.
Without waiting for them to answer, he turned and walked down the tunnel. His movements silent and deliberate. After the darkness swallowed him whole, there were only the sounds of his boots tearing free from the webbing a soft rhythmic tearing that grew fainter with each step until it was gone completely. Leaving them in a silence that was more terrifying than any noise.
Vanessa held the dagger her knuckles white as she gripped the hilt, the cold metal biting into her palm. She looked down at the blade, her mind racing with thoughts of escape and defiance. The cold steel a small inadequate comfort in this terrifying place, that seemed to press in on them from all sides.
The sound of his footsteps faded, replaced by the soft hum of the recon drone as it hovered above them. Its soft violet light reflecting on the web-covered walls. The women huddled together, their bodies trembling from a combination of fear and the damp. Lana stared into the darkness where he had vanished, her mind a whirlwind of conflicting emotions.
She was terrified of him, of what he might do to them. But a small desperate part of her clung to the hope, that he was their only chance of survival in this nightmare. The air tasted of decay and something vaguely sweet, like rotting fruit making her stomach churn with each shallow breath.
Carmen watched him go, her dark eyes tracking his every move until the darkness claimed him completely. She said nothing, her face a mask of calm that belied the rapid beating of her heart. Her mind was working overtime analyzing every word he'd said, every action he'd taken. She saw the dagger in Vanessa's hand, the food and water, the blanket—a small fragile shield. The wool felt rough against her fingertips, its scratchiness a stark contrast to the silky webs that surrounded them. Carmen noticed how he had positioned the supplies just within reach, how the drone's light created small islands of safety in an ocean of darkness.
It was a calculated act, a display of control wrapped in a thin veil of concern. She understood the message he was sending, not just in words but in the subtle choreography of his departure. You are dependent on me.
